Make sure you eat!
This is vital! Firstly it will help you soak up the alcohol then your body can process it a lot easier. Also it will stop you needing to go to the toilet after every drink.
Thirdly if the unthinkable happens and you do end up emptying your stomach it’s better to at least puke multi coloured peas and carrots than stomach bile.
Purchase your alcohol in adavance:
If you buy your alcohol then at least you know what you’re drinking.
Letting someone else supply you with alcohol removes a lot of control over how pissed you get. It seems like a silly pedantic issue but you can just imagine what that good looking guy is aiming for when he mixes those cocktails and sends you a wink.
Check your wallet:
Make sure your wallet contains: ID horrible course of events follow if you can’t produce it upon police requests, money for the taxi home because despite what you think now you WON’T feel like walking at 5am, a condom just in case, house keys (nothing worse than having to wake the rest of the house up as you try desperately to get someone to let you in, and of course Lip balm in preparation for that New Year’s kiss.
Know your limit:
Know how fast your BAC goes up and weigh the potential negative consequences of a high BAC.
You can enjoy alcohol without putting yourself at risk.
For maximum enjoyment and safety consider a BAC limit of .05-.06.
Stop drinking when you have reached your limit.
Always have a designated driver.
During:
Count your drinks:
This way at least you will realize when you go over the top how the heck you got so plastered. You will also realize you are unable to drive, and that you probably shouldn’t take on any sort of responsibility.
Best to be aware of your capabilities or incapacitaties as the case may be.
Don't mix:
Stick with one kind of alcohol.
Nothing will make you flake faster than a cocktail of liqueurs swilling around in your stomach.
If you want to see the stroke of twelve then stay loyal to one beverage.
In particular:
Raise the percentage.
Don't drink beer after wine.
Wine after beer is fine.
Drink water:
Drink water while drinking alcohol.
Use the water to quench your thirst, not the alcohol when you are thirsty, you drink faster, and alcohol only contributes to dehydration.
Drink slowly:
Space your drinks.
Your body needs time to process alcohol.
You may want to alternate alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages.
Watch out for your friends:
Make sure you keep tabs on your mates.
Take their keys off them and mind they don’t got wandering on their own.
If they doze off make sure you keep an eye on them and check that they are breathing OK.
Also have them watch out for you. 90% of all college date and acquaintance rapes are alcohol related.
Avoid drinking games:
Competitive drinking puts pressure on you to drink more than the right amount for you. Remember, BAC level per drink differs radically according to weight, gender and metabolic factors.
Maximize the quality of your experience.
Don’t try to match someone else.
Organize a place to stay:
There is nothing worse than wandering the streets drunk, disorientated and with nowhere to go. Organize where you are staying in advance, even make your bed before hand.
It will make that 4am drop into deep, deep sleep that much sweeter.
Have some toast on marmite before you crash:
As a trivial remedy a couple of pieces of marmite on toast before crashing out helos with the stomach vengeance the morning after.
How to drink vodka and stay sober:
Russians do everything to stay sober while drinking as much alcohol as possible.
Basic principles of vodka drinking for the unitiated:
One hour before the party:
Eat a couple of boiled potatoes.
Drink one or two raw eggs.
Drink one or two table-spoons of olive oil.
Sunflower oil will also do.
Thus it’s guaranteed that at the Russian party you will stay sober for at least one bottle of vodka.
At the party:
If you start drinking vodka drink only vodka.
No beer or wine.
No water or juice.
Carbonated drinks are taboo.
Drink vodka only in shots.
Never sip.
Eat immediately after taking a shot.
Russian zakuskis are often translated as appetizers.
That’s not quite correct.
Zakuskis are something you ‘zakusyvayesh’ with after taking a shot of vodka.
They are very important to neutralize alcohol.
That’s why they all contain two most important alcohol neutralizers acid and salt.
I recommend taking the following sequence:
immediately after taking a shot two slices of lemon;
then some salted cucumbers, pickles, marinated tomatoes or caviar.
then something with a lot of oil: herring traditionally with cold boiled potatoes and onion, sardines, or shproty small smoked sprats in olive oil;
then traditional Russian salads, like Oliviye or Herring with boiled beet and mayonnaise.
Almost all Russian salads come under heavy mayonnaise dressing. Remember – acid, salt, eggs and oil.
Ukrainians and Southern Russians prefer smoked lard with garlic but it’s a zakuska for professionals.
Only three first vodka shots at a Russian party are ‘obligatory’
Russian tradition explained
Zakuskis part of the party take about an hour or something like 200 grams (4 shots) of vodka. Then comes “goryacheye” hot dishes. Even though zakuskis could be very filling you should eat goryacheye if you want not be become drunk.
Actively participate in intellectual talks around the table.
Mental activity is probably the best method to keep you excited but sober.
Try, for example, to drink two pints of beer while reading a philosophical book and see the result.
At the end of the party come tea and cakes.
Don’t miss it too.
This way you show your hosts that you’re survived the party without dire consequences.
Now in the course of 4 or 5 hours you drunk a bottle of vodka (500 grams) and you’re only slightly tight.
After the party:
Keep a small bottle of beer in refrigerator. Wake up at about 5 in the morning, drink your beer and go back to bed.
It prevents hang-over in the morning.
If the early morning beer didn’t help (it usually does), drink a glass of brine from the jar you kept you pickles in.
Many Russians recommend taking a shot of vodka in the morning to fights hang-over.
Don’t do it.
It helps only alcoholics.
If you’re not, it will make things worse.
Prevent hangovers:
To prevent hangovers, take two aspirin, a glass of water, and three shots of Jager before going to bed.
After:
Water, water, water:
When you wake up and you feel like you’ve eaten a plate of sand and listened to a rock band full boar that will be your body screaming out for re hydration.
Drink a glass of water, and then another and then another.
Cure hangovers:
A hangover is caused by a combination of the toxic by product of alcohol metabolism (acetaldehyde), dehydration, and Vitamin A, B (particularly B6) and C depletion caused by the chemical action of alcohol on your system.
The symptoms are usually a dry mouth, nausea, fatigue, dizziness and headache and are caused by a combination of these factors.
Some drinks give you worse hangovers than others due to the actions of impurities called Congeners. While it's the ethyl alcohol (ethanol) that gets you drunk, amyl alcohol, butyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, propyl alcohol, and isopropyl alcohol is also found in most drinks to varying degrees, and the concentration of these Congeners will go a long way to determining the severity of the hangover.
Vodka and gin (clear liquors) are generally lower in congeners than whisky, rum and bourbon, due to the filtering process involved, and hence usually give a less intense hangover. Unfortunately the congeners also give flavor, smell and appearance to alcohol.
Another contributor to the hangover is the "freshness" of the alcohol since the natural oxidation product of ethanol is also acetaldehyde.
Finishing off an already open bottle of red, or drinking beer that's been in the boot of your car for a week, will provide you with a ready made supply of acetaldehyde so you don't have to wait for your liver to make it in order to have a really good hangover.
Hangover cures:
Most hangover "remedies" simply attend to one or more of the symptoms and don't really provide a cure as such. The hangover won't stop until the alcohol is out of your system:
Berocca:
Puts the vitamin B back in, as well as the big glass of water it's mixed with. It's probably best to do this before you go out.
Coke:
Fizz for the nausea, liquid for the dehydration, and a caffeine and sugar hit to make you feel a bit more lively.
Coffee:
Same as Coke but without the bubbles to help ease the nausea.
Try it with honey instead of sugar since the fructose is absorbed quicker than the sucrose in normal sugar, and it's better for you.
Ginseng:
It's been noted that since caffeine is a diuretic like alcohol, it can actually make the dehydration worse, so try the herbal equivalent instead.
Vegemite On Toast:
Something in your stomach is good, and salty is even better.
Plus you get a Vitamin B top up.
The same reasons also make peanut butter a good choice, but the oily nature might make some sensitive stomachs feel a bit yucky.
If you do try try this one, skip the butter and just have dry toast.
Cold Pizza:
Who knows, but it seems to work.
Asprin:
Simply attends to the headache and does nothing for the level of alcohol in your system.
Don't take them before you go to bed.
Bananas:
Sugar in the form of fructose, and potassium, which is one of the things you lose lots of when you drink.
Bananas are also a natural antacid to help with the nausea, and are high in magnesium which can help relax those pounding blood vessels causing that hangover headache.
For a variety of reasons try a peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich on white bread.
Vitamin C:
Another thing the alcohol takes out that you're advised to put back in as soon as possible.
Orange juice, tomato, a 600mg Vitamin C tablet doesn't matter, just do it.
A Hot Bath:
The heat will sweat out the toxins that are causing all the problems.
You'll feel a bit woozy at first but go with it and you'll feel better afterwards.
Drink a sports drink like Gatorade or Powerade.
Eat mineral rich food like pickles or canned fish.
Stay away from milk and other dairy products they may make you feel more queasy.
In Poland, drinking pickle juice is a common remedy.
A few remedy cocktails that at least won't make you feel worse:
Poor Man's Bloody Mary:
5oz Tomato Juice
3oz Light Beer
Salt
Pepper
Lots and lots of lime juice
Dash of Tabasco sauce
Mix and scull.
Bloody Mary:
1.5 oz vodka
Dash of lemon (or lime) juice
Worcestershire sauce
2 or 3 drops Tabasco sauce
Pepper, salt and celery salt
5 oz tomato juice.
Fruit And Stuff:
1 banana
1 small can V-8
6 large strawberries
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup orange juice
1-2 cups milk (or soy milk), to desired consistency
¼ tsp. salt
dash of nutmeg
Mix together in a blender and drink.
Hangover Cocktail:
1 large can of tomato juice
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1 lemon
4 slices of onion
3 Tablespoons of sugar
4 stalks of celery
2 teaspoons of Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste.
Mix ingredients in a container, let stand overnight.
Strain and serve.
Prairie Oyster:
Olive oil
Tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper
Tabasco
Worcestershire sauce
Vinegar or lemon juice.
Rinse a cocktail glass with the olive oil and discard oil Mix all ingredients except egg yolk.
Place the egg yolk in carefully.
Serve with a small spoon and a glass of ice water.
Banana Cow:
1 crushed ripe banana
2 level tablespoons powdered sugar
3 oz milk
1 1/2 oz rum
Plenty of cracked ice.
Mix together in a blender and drink.
Van Diemen:
2 cups of Ovaltine
Chocolate topping
2 cups of castor sugar
3 tblsp of golden syrup
1 pkt of pineapple jelly crystals
2 cups of hot water
2-3 cups of milk (full-cream)
Combine Ovaltine, sugar, topping, 3/4 milk, hot water and golden syrup.
Microwave on high for 2 minutes, adding rest of milk and stirring after 1 minute.
Add 1/2 of jelly crystals and microwave on high for 30 secs.
Add rest of jelly and a bit more hot water. Microwave for 1 minute.
Pour into cups.
Refigerate.
Serve with custard.
Place a call to one of your close companions and get a post analysis of the nights events:
Just in case you missed anything in between trips to the bathroom or after you fell asleep on the couch.
Ring the bank:
And brace yourself for how much you spent those rounds of New Years cheer never seem as expensive when you order them as they do the morning after.
Clean up:
If tragedy struck and you lost your lunch somewhere in the course of the night then now’s the time to find it, and clean it up.
